Document or paper holders are generally known. In a typical construction, the holder has a base and a pair of front and rear jaws provided on the base for gripping a sheet of the document by its lower end to hold it generally upright. The front jaw is spring-loaded and is hinged to the base for pivotal movement to open and close the jaws. As is known, the front jaw is comparatively much smaller than the rear jaw and is movable by means of a press knob provided on the base. The press knob is inconvenient to operate, and the grip provided by the holder is found to be inadequate in terms of strength.
The invention seeks to mitigate or at least alleviate such disadvantages by providing an improved paper holder.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a paper holder comprising a base, a pair of front and rear jaws provided on the base for gripping a sheet of document by its lower end to holder generally upright, a hinge connecting the front jaw to the base for pivotal movement relative to the rear jaw for opening and closing the jaws, and a spring resiliently biassing the front jaw towards the rear jaw, wherein the front jaw has an upper surface extending over and above the base for pressing by a user to pivot the front jaw away from the rear jaw against the action of the spring.
Preferably, the upper surface of the front jaw has a size that is at least half of the size of the base when viewed from above.
Preferably, the front and rear jaws have respective upper surfaces which, upon closing of the jaws, join together to form a convex combined surface of a size comparable to that of the base when viewed from above.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a paper holder comprising a base, a pair of front and rear jaws provided on the base for gripping a sheet of document by its lower end to holder generally upright, a hinge connecting the front jaw to the base for pivotal movement relative to the rear jaw, and a spring resiliently biassing the front jaw towards the rear jaw, wherein the jaws have respective inner surfaces for gripping, said surfaces being of comparable size, at least in terms of width, as each other and being curved in a complementary manner.
Preferably, the gripping surfaces of the jaws have substantially the same size as each other.
In either aspect, it is preferred that the rear jaw is connected by another hinge for pivotal movement relative to the front jaw.
More preferably, said another hinge connects the rear jaw to the base.
In a preferred embodiment, the two hinges are provided with respective gears in mesh with each other such that the two jaws are: simultaneously pivotable in opposite directions.
Preferably, the hinge has two parts, and a low viscosity fluid is applied between the hinge parts to dampen the movement of the front jaw.
It is preferred that the hinge is in the form of a rod supported at opposite ends by the base for turning about its axis, in each of which ends a said spring in the form of a torsional coil spring is provided.
Preferably, the two hinges are in the form of respective rods which extend parallel to and side-by-side with each other and are arranged to turn about their respective axes in opposite directions.